Sept. 9, 1942: Two people died when they were trapped in a burning car on the Arroyo Seco Parkway in South Pasadena after the gas tank exploded in a fiery crash at the Fair Oaks Avenue exit.

John Lucas and Irene Somerlott of Pasadena were in a car driven by John R. Nalon of San Fernando, who was thrown from the vehicle when it hit a light pole, skidded up the Fair Oaks exit ramp and plunged back onto the freeway, catching fire.

Scotty Haskell of South Pasadena told police he tried to rescue Lucas and Somerlott from the burning car, but the flames were too intense.

Note especially the death of John Banks, Negro. In case you didn’t know, newspapers in the 1940s commonly identified African Americans in stories in this manner.

Tom Treanor, who was killed in a Jeep accident while covering the liberation of France, files a report from Cairo about the Long Range Desert Group, who want to know if Clark Gable is serious about getting in on the fighting or just a Hollywood phony.

“The Talk of the Town”opens today at the Pantages in Hollywood and the RKO downtown.

3 Responses to 2 Die in Fiery Crash on Arroyo Seco Parkway

RE: Arroyo Seco Parkway. I believe the speed limit was 40 when it opened in 1940. Years later, I asked its contractor, J.E. Haddock, why the left (fast) lane was asphalt paved while the center and right lanes were concrete. He replied that it was thought that nobody would drive in the fast lane, so the pavement would never wear out. Incidentally, my deceased friend Ernie Leo was the first, if unofficial passenger over the Parkway. The day before it opened, he took down the barricade and drove over the new road in his Model T, stopping on the road to take a photograph and posing with his Ford in front of the “City of South Pasadena” sign which is still there today.